There's one useful chapter in this book, and it's the one about the MICE quotient/story structure analysis/planning tool. Other than that, I think Brandon Sanderson's YouTube writing lectures are far more informative (and up to date) than this. ( )

Escribir para el público de la ciencia-ficción y la fantasía puede ser la aventura más apasionante para un escritor como tú. Estos lectores desean que los transportes más allá de los terrenos conocidos, y que los ayudes a explorar las fronteras infinitas de los mundos que has creado. En este manual ganador del prestigioso premio Hugo, el maestro de la ciencia-ficción Orson Scott Card nos ofrece su conocimiento experto de estos géneros. Con él aprenderás: -Qué es y qué no es ciencia-ficción y fantasía, y según qué estándares, así como dónde encaja tu propia obra. -Cómo construir, poblar y dar vida a mundos creíbles y vívidos que tus lectores puedan visitar. -Cómo usar el cociente MIPA (medio, idea, personaje y acontecimiento) para estructurar con éxito cualquier historia. -Cuál es la situación de los mercados y cómo acceder a ellos para ser publicado.

I've had this on my to-read list since high school. Clearly my dedication to the craft is as hard as plasteel.

It's a quick read, not only because it's short but also because of Card's breezy and (somewhat) informal style. As promised in the introduction, he sticks mostly to genre-specific elements of writing, such as world building, creating rules for science/magic (or both...), and so forth. He skips or glosses over aspects that apply to all writing, and even fiction writing specifically.

As you might imagine, Card refers to a lot of works, both by himself and others, to illustrate the points he is making. The examples were generally well chosen, but it had the dubious effect of making me aware of more things I want to read.

For me, the best part of the book was the last chapter, which discusses the life and business of writing. Card slips a little in his intent here by giving more general advice, but that's not necessarily a bad thing, since it's good advice. In particular, he gives voice to the conflicting viewpoints that an author must take of his or her own work:

Writers have to simultaneously believe the following two things:

1. The story I am now working on is the greatest work of genius ever written in English.


2. The story I am working on is worthless drivel.

He goes on to explain how to handle these antipodal viewpoints without going mad ("but that, too," he says, "can be an asset to the writer").

It's not a life-changing book, but there's some good tips along with a fair amount of humor and "huh" moments. If you want to feel like you got to pick the brain of a premier science fiction author about his craft, then sit down and read this.

(For the record, I mean "pick the brain" in a metaphorical sense, not a literal, scientific one.) ( )

I read this with little or no context/investment and loved it all the more for my ignorance. If we left Earth, where would we go? How fast would we get there? What happens to human beings in outer space? Is there such a thing as "too" magical? Hard questions to ask. A lot of good information. "When a wizard casts a spell, body parts wither and fall off the person he loves most." "If you go back in time, you are only able to make changes that have no long-term effects, since any universe in which you change your own future could not exist." Is this my personal "Dark Side of Oz"? Yes, it is.
( )

I didn't really get what I wanted out of it but it was still slightly helpful and funny. ( )